{"id":581,"date":"2021-08-09T15:43:46","date_gmt":"2021-08-09T15:43:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pcgearhead.com\/?p=581"},"modified":"2022-05-24T17:41:18","modified_gmt":"2022-05-24T17:41:18","slug":"check-gpu-cpu-usage-in-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pcgearhead.com\/check-gpu-cpu-usage-in-game\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Check GPU & CPU Usage in Game?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Do you often see those gaming videos on YouTube where there’s an FPS counter running at the top corner of the screen and wonder, is the counter built within the game, or does the gamer have to add one to the screen separately?<\/p>\n
Monitoring CPU and GPU performance is something that each of us wants to perform, especially when playing AAA titles. We want to keep track of our gaming temps, check on our FPS drops and see how much load our CPU & GPU can handle.<\/p>\n
This, in turn, helps us in identifying whether our machine bottlenecks or not.<\/p>\n
For those new to CPU and GPU monitoring, allow me to provide you an initial insight into how it works. There’s no in-game tool or software that enables you to monitor your PC’s temps or the FPS. To do so, you need to use separate software like NZXT or MSI Afterburner. These are the two most commonly used tools for monitoring the CPU & GPU temps and clocks.<\/p>\n
Today, I am going to walk you through how to monitor GPU usage in-game using MSI Afterburner. So without further ado, let’s begin.<\/p>\n\n
Follow these 3 simple steps to learn how to check CPU and GPU usage while gaming.<\/p>\n
So, to begin with, you need to download the MSI Afterburner software utility on your computer. In order to do so, all you need to do is click on the following link<\/a>, and it will take you to the official website of MSI Afterburner. From there, just download the latest version of the utility.<\/p>\n Once you’ve successfully downloaded the MSI Afterburner software utility on your desktop, next up is the installation process. Extract the zip folder which you’ve recently downloaded to any desired location on your PC. Keep following the instructions of the installation screen and choose MSI Afterburner.<\/p>\n It will automatically install on your system & the software utility will launch on its own.<\/p>\n Once the MSI Afterburner software is launched, you will see a “gear icon<\/strong>” appear on the MSI afterburner. Click on the gear icon, and it will take you to the Properties<\/strong> screen.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the MSI Afterburner properties, navigate to the Monitoring<\/b> tab.<\/p>\n Now scroll down to the Graph<\/b> section in the monitoring tab and simply choose the options which you want to monitor. You will find plenty of options relevant to CPU & GPU performance.<\/p>\n To activate, just click on the check mark sign appearing beside the metric you want to see in game. Once you’ve checked the options, now check mark the “Show in On Screen Display.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If it’s your first time using the MSI Afterburner and you are not quite sure which options to choose, then here’s a list of options that you need to turn on.<\/p>\n Simply, uncheck the remaining options and you’re all good to go.<\/p>\n All the metrics shown in the MSI Afterburner can be rearranged according to your preferences. You can bring a few up top, while moving the others down depending on what you want to monitor first. To move them, just hold the metric and use the mouse scroll button. Once organized, click on the Apply<\/b>. Here’s an image that will indicate what it may look like.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now choose the game which you want to run and track using the MSI Afterburner. And you will see the metrics appear in the upper left corner of the screen so you can track in real time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You can also change the color of different metrics as per your particular requirements.<\/p>\n To do so, select on screen display layouts<\/b>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Now find the option, group color <\/b>and find out which properties you want to designate specific colors. Double click on the color code appearing adjacent to the property and it will open a drop down menu as shown in the image below. Now choose your specific color code and designate.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Follow the same steps for all the metrics and choose the options that suit you best.<\/p>\n Note<\/b>: When installing MSI Afterburner, the software utility will prompt you whether you want to install Rivatuner Statistics Server or not. If you select the option, then you can also change the font size of the metric values appearing on screen while playing your favorite game titles.<\/p>\n To change the font size, simply navigate to the on screen display zoom<\/b> option.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Move the slider to adjust how large or small you want to see the value of the metrics.<\/p>\nStep # 2: Configure the MSI Afterburner <\/b><\/h3>\n
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Step # 3: Rearrange the Options to Your Preference <\/b><\/h3>\n
Step # 4: Run a Game to Make Sure the MSI Afterburner is Working <\/b><\/h3>\n